Episode 40 – Dwain Desbien – Rethinking What We Teach and Why
In this episode, Mark talks with Dwain Desbien, a physics instructor at the community college level, about his research in physics education, methods to get students thinking deeply, and ways that we may consider why we teach what we teach as well as things we could add to improve our students’ understanding. Guests Dwain Desbien…
View Show NotesEpisode 39 – George Nelson – Modeling in Middle Schools
In this episode, Mark talks with middle school modeling teacher George Nelson. They talk about the importance of building skills, rather than just focusing on making it through the assigned topics. Additionally they talk about the importance of classroom community and connecting with students. Guest George Nelson George has taught middle school since 2009, and…
View Show NotesEpisode 38 – Dan Peluso – Astronomy, SETI, Music and Modeling
In this episode, Mark talks with Dan Peluso about his time teaching physics and astronomy and the work he has done to help develop the modeling instruction materials and workshop for astronomy modeling (the next one is coming up in January!) They talk about the work he is doing at the SETI Institute with citizen…
View Show NotesEpisode 37 – Ariel Serkin & Brenda Royce – “Improving Student Mathematical Reasoning with Modeling Instruction”
In this episode, Mark talks with Ariel Serkin and Brenda Royce about improving student mathematical reasoning. They have given a workshop and a webinar on the topics, and have been working on these ideas for the last few years and have great examples for getting at the thinking needed for students to understand the math…
View Show NotesEpisode 36 – Jim Stankevitz – “25 years of Modeling Instruction in Physics”
In this episode, Mark talks with Jim Stenkevitz, retired modeler, about his 25+ years of teaching physics using the modeling approach, as well as his experience leading workshops and being on the board for AMTA. Guests Jim Stankevitz Jim Stenkevitz majored in physics and earned his masters degree in physics education. He was introduced to…
View Show Notes